Tyler Coates, Man Who Tweeted About Being Trapped in an Elevator, Speaks

“I AM STUCK IN A FUCKING ELEVATOR,” Jumo office manager Tyler Coates wrote on Twitter today at 2:24 p.m., at the beginning of what would become a half hour-long saga. He had stepped into the elevator at 113 Spring–the office Jumo shares with GroupMe and Buzzfeed–on his way back to his desk on the third floor, only to have the elevator stop somewhere between the first and second floor, its buttons no longer responsive.

Panicked, he turned to Twitter.

So you got into the elevator, pressed the button and it started moving. So then did it… grind to a stop?

Not really, no. It’s a really quiet elevator and bigger than the usual elevator. I was in there by myself and it just kind of stopped and I couldn’t tell, like I could tell it was in between floors and everything, but it just halted. I tried hitting the call button and nothing happened, so I just gave my boss a call and let her know that I was stuck in the elevator.

“STILL STUCK IN THIS FUCKING ELEVATOR.” –2:30 p.m.

What inspired you to tweet?

I was like, I have internet access and I need something to occupy myself with. I think I took a picture of myself to post to Tumblr. [Also, a video.–ed.] Also I had 3G service so I checked into Foursquare and added “A fucking elevator” as a location.

“I BETTER NOT HAVE TO STAY LATE AT WORK TODAY. BTW, STILL FUCKING STUCK IN THIS FUCKING ELEVATOR.” –2:32 p.m.

And what was the reaction from the Twittersphere?

I got a couple of responses. My co-worker Matt told me he didn’t even know that I was actually in the elevator until he saw my tweet. He told me he took his headphones off and said, “Oh my god, Tyler’s stuck in the elevator” and everyone was like, “Yeah, we know.”

The majority of the time I use Twitter is if I’m at a bar or at a movie theater, waiting for my friends to show up, and I need to look like I have something to do because I’m out in public and I don’t want to look like I’m just waiting for someone. So I guess it was kind of the same thing except I happened to be in an elevator, stuck by myself, and no one was watching me.

“I’LL KEEP TWEETING SO YOU KNOW THAT I HAVEN’T CUT OFF MY HANDS FOR FOOD.” –2:39 p.m.

“TELL EVERY DUDE I HAVE EVER DATED THAT I WAS TWEETING ABOUT THEM BEFORE I DIED IN THIS ELEVATOR.” –2:56 p.m.

Did you get any new followers out of this ordeal?

Yeah! The Awl posted a screenshot of my first few tweets with a link to my Twitter account. I’ve gotten at least 100 since this morning when no one was paying attention to me.

“IT’S MOVING” –2:56 p.m.

So what else happened while you were in the elevator?

A couple of the GroupMe guys, I believe Steve Martocci was one of them, and someone else said they were coming try to pry it open with a hammer. They banged on the door-I could hear them and they told me they were trying, but they couldn’t do anything because it was stuck between floors.

I just kind of sat there. I stood for a while, and I was kind of shaking and nervous because I’d never been stuck in an elevator before. After about ten minutes I just sat down because I was like, I have no idea how long this will take so I might as well get comfortable.

“I’M ALIVE AND OUT OF THE ELEVATOR.” –2:58 p.m.

How do you feel about the elevator right now?

Um, I’m not a really big fan of it. I definitely don’t think I want to be on it alone anytime soon. I don’t think I would stop taking elevators altogether. I’m not claustrophobic and it didn’t drop or anything, so I’ll probably go back to taking the elevator one day. Probably sooner rather than later.

“My mother is really upset that I said ‘fuck’ on Twitter.” –5:42 p.m.

LATE UPDATE: GroupMe developer Pat “Boy Wonder!” Nakajima tweets in to report he was the second attempted rescuer; it was his hammer.